OSPE - The Voice - September 2016 - 15

cover Q & A with Dr. Milica Radisic on her work What other projects are on the horizon for you? We are developing new methods to speed up healing of diabetic skin wounds by designing biomaterials that promote epithelial cell migration. The biomaterial is applied in the form of a gel on the wound and it contains peptides that help skin cells "crawl" more quickly towards the centre of the wound to close it. This material could specifically help diabetic patients who often suffer from open skin wounds, and who lack the ability to re-grow new blood vessels, which can lead to infection. In extreme cases, these patients may require limb amputation due to the excessive tissue damage resulting from the non-healing wounds. What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs? efficient cardiac medication. By allowing drug companies to flag negative side effects early in the testing process, companies may be able to avoid the prospect of having a drug withdrawn from the market. In addition, animal testing may not be required with Biowire, which reduces costs, overcomes ethical concerns, and alters the course of drug testing. As Dr. Radisic stated when she received the prestigious Steacie Memorial Fellowship awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), her lab is pioneering "new types of bio-engineering approaches for creating heart tissue and vasculature... that could one day be used to mend your heart, the hearts of your loved ones, and those of many generations to come." Want to Learn More? Dr. Radisic will be sharing her personal career journey, research, and advice with students at the Women in Engineering Advocacy Committee's (WEAC) Fall Forum on November 12, 2016. In partnership with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), the event will feature four women engineers doing cutting-edge work in biotechnology, health care, and life sciences. The Forum will explore the opportunities and challenges facing Canadian researchers in this important space, the role of technology in accelerating the pace of innovation, and the linkages between innovation and entrepreneurship. Guests will also have the opportunity to network and tour TRI - one of Canada's largest teaching hospitals. For more information about the WEAC Fall Forum, contact Catrina Kronfli, Policy Analyst, at ckronfli@ospe.on.ca or visit OSPE's official blog, Society Notes at www.blog.ospe.on.ca. Starting a new business is extremely hard and the odds are against you. Statistically, the odds of failure are quite high and those of success are very low. Therefore, it is absolutely critical to surround yourself with the right people who will be equally dedicated to the company as you are, not only sharing your passion for the new business, but also possessing the same kinds of values that relate to product quality and credibility. It is critical to create an effective team early on. People are at the centre of any success story. Without the right people, nothing happens. What advice do you have for young girls and women interested in engineering? The engineers of today end up working in very diverse areas from finance to health, and including classical disciplines such as construction, mining etc. But engineering is definitely not just hard hats and blueprints any more. As an engineering student you are guaranteed to be surrounded by smart, determined, people and this will also be the case later on in your career. If you want to have a dynamic job that enables you to learn throughout your life, this will be the job for you! What do you hope to achieve with your research? Ultimately, I hope to prove that engineered tissues are useful in the discovery of new drugs and I hope that at least one of our biomaterials will be used to help patients. What's your greatest accomplishment to date? I would pick raising my three kids as my greatest accomplishment to date. My eldest daughter just graduated from middle school, two more to follow, but we still have a long way to go. As every parent knows, raising kids is really hard. There are so many challenges and so many possible mistakes one can make. At the same time, the stakes are getting higher and a lot more is September 2016 The VOICe 15 https://www.blog.ospe.on.ca

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